Experimental editing/optics
Experimental optics were explored in city symphony films of the 20s, and in-camera techniques with the lens were approached differently by city symphony filmmakers . In chapter 3 of ‘Experimental Filmmaking and the Motion Picture Camera: An Introductory Guide for Artists and Filmmakers’, ‘Camera eye’, Schlemowitz discusses city symphony films and filming as a flaneur. This filmmaking approach is more observational, but the avant-garde techniques used can be applied to what we’re trying to achieve, particularly for our piece on architectural patterns. Light is something that can be played around with in experimental works, and filmmakers of this calibre use it in different ways. Jim Jennings for instance, pieces together the ‘larger city scene’ in a ‘puzzle-like fashion’. Jennings looks out for different textures and movements, often capturing them in ‘fragmentary close-up’ – which is something we can achieve during production as well as post-production.
In my research, I planned to find an academic piece on the post-production of experimental and poetic pieces but stumbled across Schlemowitz book instead – which I still found useful as it’s relevant to what my group explored in our proof of concept video and will help guide our production process with an understanding of camera lens and light. While looking for an experimental piece that edits in a fractured way, I came across poetic and experimental films with split-screen editing – one of them being ‘Split Apart’, a short film by Paul Seidenstecher. The tone of the short film isn’t what we’re going for, but I liked the use of split-screen editing, which works really well and would be achievable for my group and I when piecing our footage together.
Sources
Schlemowitz, J (2019) Experimental Filmmaking and the Motion Picture Camera : An Introductory Guide for Artists and Filmmakers, Taylor & Francis Group, pg. 54 – 80 https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/reader.action?docID=5771597
Seidenstecher, P (2018) Split Away, Vimeo, London UK, https://vimeo.com/293697906